The halfling quickly mounts Centimere and leads him down the passage.
Not sure what passage you mean, Ankird. There's the trapdoor that Rumple is standing upon. There's the trapdoor behind the door that Jaretti locked (he could unlock it as a full-round action), or there're the front doors (you closed the outside doors when you came in, so someone would need to spend a move action to open those). To go down, still facing the problem of 15' vertical drop (with either trapdoor). You could "push" handle animal to get Centimere to jump down (DC: 20 Handle Animal), or Ride check to get him to try and leap down (DC: 15 Ride check) while you're still on his back. Either case, if you do get him to jump down, he needs to make a DC:15 Acrobatics check. If successful, he lands safely. If he fails, he takes 1d6 nonlethal damage. (And if you're riding, you'll need to make additional ride check to stay in saddle, besides the one to get him to leap.
(For the bipeds in the group: Fast Climb down 15 feet takes 30' of movement, and requires a DC:0 climb check but check made with a -5 penalty--but that's for creatures with hands who can climb a ladder. Or move at quarter speed, and it's a DC:0 climb check with no penalty.)
M Dwarf Dwarf |Sorcerer 2 |HP: 22/22 | AC12 T 12 FF 10 | F+4 R+2 W+2 | Init +2 | CMB -2 | CMD 10 | Speed 20 | Perc +1, SM +1
Rumple simply drops down the ladder knowing that his arms lack the strength to really keep him safe. Praying for a soft landing, he holds his nose (as if jumping into a lake) and lets himself fall. (If bipeds can do the acrobatics check, then he tries to roll out of the drop Acrobatics DC15:1d20 - 1 ⇒ (6) - 1 = 5)
"Look out, that crazy alchemist is headed your!... oh well, you already know." He spends the rest of his turn moving toward the door. (if I don't break an ankle, can I double move? Please place me as far as I can go.) Along the way, he wonders, How did that super-sized scoundrel fit through the little trap door? Hopefully she is smaller now.
Rumple exhibits all the acrobatics skill one expects of a dwarven sorcerer, and wrenches his ankle a bit when he lands, but is able to forge ahead and shout a warning.
nonlethal falling damage:1d6 ⇒ 4
Ankird: correct. You heard movement from beyond the door, then the sounds of the tiger and the dwarven brothers attacking the woman, and you know they were on the lower level, and indeed, the noises of fighting seem a bit muffled and funneled, as if coming up from a hole in the ground.
SEE MAP First map ground floor, Second map undergound floor
Rumple: As a sorcerer, you're aware that Enlarge Person is a dismissable spell (i.e. take a standard action and make spell effects go away). That seems the more likely scenario than her trying to squeeze down the trapdoor. As for Acrobatics to avoid falling, that is indeed in the rules for FALLING. It's a 15' drop/climb, and I'm rounding down for distance, i.e. counts as a 10' drop. And since you deliberately jumped, it's nonlethal damage, and you're able to move, though I'm counting the jump down as 5' of movement...one heckuva first square of movement.
. . . . . Current order:
. Aurk [7/14 hp] Still has move action available...
Jaretti [14/18 hp]
Dexus [6/10 hp]
Ankird
Rumple [6/12 hp (inc. 4 NL dmg)]
Struggler [9/15 hp (inc. 6 NL dmg)]
. Robella (alchemist) [-4hp]
. Dwarf Brothers
Centimere [5/13 hp]
. . BOLD may act.
M Dwarf Dwarf |Sorcerer 2 |HP: 22/22 | AC12 T 12 FF 10 | F+4 R+2 W+2 | Init +2 | CMB -2 | CMD 10 | Speed 20 | Perc +1, SM +1
I believe there is a locked door between Simiel/Ankird and the trapdoor (ie, you cannot go that way without breaking down the door) and must go all the way back to the other trapdoor (the one in the main warehouse room). That is the direction Rumple, Jaretti, and Aurk have headed.
Rumple is correct. Jaretti locked that door. The only access currently available is the trapdoor in the main warehouse room, where Rumple and Jaretti jumped down. DC: 15 Acro to land safely if you want to jump down. (Failure means 1d6 nonlethal damage) DC:0 climb to go down ladder at 1/4 speed. Can climb down at 1/2 speed if you take a -5 penalty on DC:0 Climb Check. To get Centimere to jump down the hole, it's a DC:20 Handle Animal check, or a DC:15 Ride check. Centimere will need to make Acrobatics check to try and stick the landing if you convince him to jump down. If Ankird is using Ride check to get the dog to leap, it's also a Ride check to remain on Centimere's back when he lands (or Ankird falls off, ends up prone and takes 1d6 nonlethal)
Ankird, Dexus You still have actions this round, but I don't think you'll be able to take any action that will stop the following (even if Centimere and/or Ankird manage to break down the door in order to allow Dexus to blast her, it won't stop this. Don't get me wrong: please take your actions for this round--whether it's trying to break through door or going down the open trapdoor hole. I'm just moving this forward.)
Struggler-bot attempts to maul the nasty lady who's coming to kill its poor, helpless master. The tiger just barely manages to sink its teeth into her, but her tough hide and some kind of invisible shield deflects its claws.
The feral female alchemist snarls in frustration, then takes a five foot step away from the combatants. She hurls a bomb at the Gearwright brothers. Barengar takes the bomb full in the face. He shrieks in agony as the bomb engulfs his head, and he collapses to the ground in a fiery heap. Pietros stands there in shock at watching his brother immolated before his eyes, barely making an effort to avoid the splash of the bomb. He shrieks in agony at the sight, and the alchemist laughs cruelly. She looks Pietros in the eye and shouts, "I will incinerate anyone who dares to open this door. And if you think to loose this tiger to try and follow me I will destroy it, then come back and kill you ALL!." She then slams the door closed.
Pietros lets out a strangled cry of pain, then grabs his brother and gently carries him to the far corner of the room, muttering quietly the whole time. "It'll be alright, it'll be alright. I've got you, Barengar." He then cries out in anguish, "Are any of you a healer? HELP MY BROTHER! PLEASE!"
As Jaretti rushes into the room, the tiger snarls in his direction before pausing and sniffing the air, then resumes its protective stance over its master, regarding the door with a hateful glare.
Ankird rides Centimere over to the ladder then proceeds to climb down and heads toward the room where the Gearwrights made their fateful stand, leaving Centimere to once again stand sentry over the ladder. He's joinged by Dexus and Aurk, who also clamber their way down.
M Dwarf Dwarf |Sorcerer 2 |HP: 22/22 | AC12 T 12 FF 10 | F+4 R+2 W+2 | Init +2 | CMB -2 | CMD 10 | Speed 20 | Perc +1, SM +1
Rumple comes through the door and nearly gives himself whiplash as his eyes catch the 'nearly dead' brother. Does his heart go out to a fellow dwarf? Is that why he instantly forgets about the alchemist and rushes to kneel beside Barengar? His eyes poring over the limp dwarf (and the space above him), his hands gently reach out and begin feeling for signs of life. A casual observer might think him a patient and skilled healer prepping to perform a miracle of healing. But those who have been with him thus far already know in their guts that is not the case.
Ewwww, love it, Rumple...in a macabre disturbing way.
Pietros also tends his brother's wounds, murmuring wordlessly while removing some of his clothes that are still smoldering. After a moment or two, he sighs deeply, and calls out, "Barengar's breathing has settled down, and he seems more at ease."
Male CN Halfling Rogue 3| HP 25/25| AC 19 T 15 FF 16 | CMB +1, CMD 15 | F: +4, R: +7, W: +2 | Init: +5 | Perc: +8, SM: +4 | Speed 30 ft | Active conditions: None.
"Alright boys. Decision time. Every time that woman flicks her fire, one of us goes down, mortally wounded. She's racing off now, down the hall behind this door. If we follow... its going to be tough, maybe impossible. Part of me wants her to pay for her crimes, part of me wants to wake up tomorrow."
He grasps the pommel of his sword tighter, the strain of the past few minutes clearly evident on his face.
"So what is it? Want me to open this door? Just say the word."
Delay long enough this round to get everyone's thoughts on whether to let her escape or not.
Actually, I'm looking at 2 dwarves and halfling in medium armor with a movement of 15'....I'm calling it. Jaretti doesn't seem suicidal, and the rest of the party is too slow to keep up.
Honestly, with all her buffs she's sitting on an AC of 23, with 5 bombs left, and 3 natural attacks. (level 4 alchemist) Her getting away probably saved your lives...that Color Spray scroll was your 50/50 shot to take her down (alchemists have such crappy Will Saves). Once she made that save, you're looking at needing some very lucky rolls on your part--odds were definitely not in your favor, even if Eroil had been conscious. Giving the tiger a round to do some damage was the best I could manage for y'all...
But have no fear, you'll be getting full XP and full prestige for driving out the guild, and clearing the name of the Carnival. There will be a couple items of loot that you won't gain access to on the Chronicle, and you each lose out on one hundred eight gold...much cheaper than a Raise Dead.( still talking about earning around 1200 gold, iirc). Chronicles will follow later tonight, or by tomorrow night at the latest.
for those who want to know what happened when the enlarged alchemist closed the door:
Her Standard action was to dismiss her Enlarge Person extract. Her move action, she fast-climbed down rope ladder—the first 5’ is a tunnel through dirt, the next 10’ open air inside the room downstairs. So she reaches 10’ down ladder and Struggler, on “guard” makes a readied attack on the woman as she moves within reach. Struggler was guarding master and had moved over toward the trapdoor when it heard the door open, to keep between its master and the noise/opened door—Struggler readied to attack anything that moved to threaten its master (Normally, animal companions aren’t capable of readying attack as part of tactics/strategy, but when on “guard,” it’s reasonable that they’re ready to attack enemy who threaten that which they protect). Struggler managed to bite her, and she lost her grip on the ladder. Though this caused her to fall off the ladder, it was only 5’ and she managed to land on her feet. The 2 brothers charged forward with the daggers they took off the downed guild members, but their attacks were ineffectual. (While there were also short swords, the brothers are not proficient in martial weapons—they’re just level 4 experts.)
First you carefully secure the rest of the complex, entering each room on guard, but encountering no other living creatures. So then you pathfinder the crap outta the place. On the main floor of the warehouse, you only turn up mundane items, shipping and receiving records, lots of bulk goods, all materials owned by other businesses, folks who were using Ilsurian Hauling and Storage for presumably legitimate business.
In the underground complex, you find barracks with nothing of real value. The training room, with dummies and practice equipment (again, nothing of real value).
You find a room that is receiving end of a pit trap, and the observation room next to it (again, nothing of real value). You find what appears to be an interrogation room that does not seem to have been used much, at least not recently.
You find the guild meeting hall: Covering the long wooden table in the middle of the room are several maps and diagrams. A hand-drawn, poster-sized map of Ilsurian is nailed to the north wall, with many of the prominent homes and businesses circled in red. The diagrams on the table paint a grimmer portrait of the guild’s activities: sketches of Archivin Walder’s path home from the circus, notes on who should work the pickpocketing distraction at the carnival, and ideas on where to string up the body of Filton Legg. Lastly, there is a list of your names, with brief descriptions of each of your appearances. Aurk’s name is circled prominently in red.
You find the guildmaster’s office, which not only contains an entire alchemist lab, you also find a locked chest. Jaretti makes quick work of it, and inside you find the clockwork creation that the Gearwright brothers mentioned. They show you the secret compartment which contains a travelers anytool, and the key needed to wind the creation and get it to work.
For any PC interested in such a toy: the Clockwork Spy is on the chronicle, though you have to spend resources to make it operable. It's not exactly, powerful, and indeed, most of you probably don’t have a use for it, but it’s kinda cool.
You find a storage room with what appears to be some illgotten goods, some stolen, some clearly illegal that are being smuggled. Much of it is too bulky to do much with, but you do find a locked box: It appears to be a tithing box from a temple of Erastil. It has not yet been unlocked, and by its weight, it’s definitely full of coins.
Beyond the storeroom, you find a vault, its door hanging wide open. Despite your paranoia, you discover there are no traps, and indeed, it appears someone quickly entered the place, grabbed a few items in haste and left. You do find some gold, silver and copper pieces, as well as a Key of Lock Jamming, and silver chalice with covered in symbols of Erastil.
Having secured the Guild, you send word to the Sheriff. Once you present all the evidence to the Sheriff, she thanks you profusely for bringing the actual culprits to justice, and rooting out this nest of vipers. By the time you've been debriefed and helped secure the thieves that survived your assault, it's quite late and you retire to the Crossroads Inn.
The next morning, you return to the carnival. As you approach, you see Phardeen the Panotti swooping in lazy, awkward circles, keeping an eye out for your approach. As soon as he spies you, he lets out a loud whoop, then shouts, "They're HERE!"
He flies in circles over your heads, declaring at the top of his lungs to anyone who'll listen,
"All Hail the Heroes of the Umbra Carnival!"
You spend the week as their honored guests, and the Carnival's business is booming--now that they've been cleared of all charges and folks are no longer worried about being eaten by any of the attractions, the notorious goings-on has brought a record number of attendees from miles around.
During the week, you work with the sheriff, sorting through evidence and grilling the few guild survivors and learn all about the thieves' guild known as the Gilded Hands: The Gilded Hands were run by a married Chelish couple from Korvosa. Once young hustlers for the Cerulean Society, they were run out of town by an influential Sczarni gang leader over a personal grudge. They moved to Ilsurian, and took on the aliases of Borvius and Robella Monchello to avoid pursuit and continuation of the vendetta. In public, Borvius ran Ilsurian Storage & Hauling, a cartage company that ships goods and stores cargo, and Robella owned Mistress Robella’s Curiosity Shop just next door. (You found secret door and ladder that lead to her shop. You find lots of mundane alchemical items in the shop, but little of real value). In secret, they jointly control all the serious criminal activity in Ilsurian. Recently, they have been constrained by the size of the town itself. The guild has reached a tipping point where it dare not undertake more profitable criminal ventures without risking a strong response from the town’s sheriff and the larger community—at least, not without a scapegoat. The arrival of the Umbra Carnival presented just such an opportunity. With the circus in town, the Gilded Hands quickly planned to perpetrate their boldest schemes and pin the blame on carnival folk, who are seen by the townspeople as even less trustworthy than other ethnic Varisians. They eliminated Archivin Walder for his money lending business (they wanted to become the only local loan sharks—and charge much more exorbitant rates). They wanted complete control of the docks and shipping, both for legitimate business and for smuggling, so Arhaneem Braeton had to go. And they were worried Sister Esrelda Woodmere would succeed in unraveling their plans by working things out between the Carnival and the town, so they murdered the priestess of Erastil (and looted the temple while they were at it.)
The dwarven Gearwright Brothers that you rescued from the guild's prison offer you lucrative work acting as security for their engineering contracts throughout Varisia, including mysterious locales such as Kaer Maga. You do find their offer almost as enticing as the personal invitation from Almara Delisen to join the Umbra Carnival and travel all across Avistan as part of a new family.
But alas, words of your deeds have spread even as far as Sheila Heidmarch, who sends a note that it's about time for you to wrap up your little vacation,
"Unless you're truly considering taking on the dubious moniker of 'Carnie!' And if you do, I still expect to receive your written reports...and my family’s fourth-best set of pearls!"
So you bid fond farewell to the Gearwrights and your adopted carnival family and return to Magnimar to report in.
As time goes by, you eventually learn that Chelaxians and Varisians in Ilsurian set aside their differences in an annual memorial to the victims. A greater understanding is reached, and the community grows even stronger.
And with that Kumbaya moment, we're done. There were a few things you missed that would've filled you in more on what happened (e.g. there was a skulk trapped in vault at the Locked Box, if you had investigated there. And there were a couple other clues you missed. But you got to the places you needed to, and dealt with the bad guys that had to be dealt with.
If anyone has a faction journal card mission that fits into the context of the events of this module--especially one that needs to make a roll--let 'er rip.
Oh, and the sphinx was actually an elaborate illusion run by the woman who also plays the role of Madame Masque. If you would've ferreted that out, there's the side drama of whether you'll help keep the secret or not. But since you didn't insist on interrogating the sphinx and took Almara at her word, it didn't come up...and that's why she's invited y'all to join the carnival as members of her "family." It's pure flavor, but hey, if you decide to retire your character, they are free to run off and join the Carnival any time they want...
AC 19/T14/FF15 HP 24 /24 F+3 R+5 W+3 Init +1 Perception+5
Dual Cursed Lunar Oracle 3
Eroil would try to recruit Madame Masque for the Dark archive.
Diplo vs 17:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18 And sorry I did not contribut more, but alas being asleep really limited my options!
I'll be making this thread inactive within the week, so be certain to download your chronicles soon...and here's wishing you all a happy, healthy holiday season.
